What to know about Kamala Harris, leading contender to be Democratic presidential nominee

Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as a top contender to replace President Biden at the top of Democratic ticket following his historic decision to withdraw from the 2024 race for the White House.

Mr. Biden roiled the general election campaign when he announced Sunday that he would be dropping out, ending weeks of pressure from within the Democratic Party that began after his shocking performance at the first presidential debate on June 27.

The president then threw his support to Harris, saying his decision to select her as his vice president was the best decision he's made.

"Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year," he wrote on social media. "Democrats — it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this."

Harris said in a statement Sunday that she is "honored to have the President's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination."

"Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election," Harris said. "And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win."

Harris also paid tribute to Mr. Biden, calling his decision to step aside for the 2024 race a "selfless and patriotic act."  

The president initially resisted calls from some in his party to forego his bid for a second term, but relented after the drumbeat that began with a few rank-and-file lawmakers grew to include more high-profile Democrats who warned Mr. Biden's continued candidacy threatened the party's chances of not only holding onto the White House, but maintaining control of the Senate and flipping the House.

Harris, 59, is among the leading candidates to succeed Mr. Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, though she could face some competition.

A vice president of firsts

A former senator from California, she was a one-time opponent of president's during the 2020 Democratic primary, launching her campaign on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2019 and ending her presidential run in December of that year. She endorsed Mr. Biden several months later.

The president selected Harris as his running mate in August 2020, a historic pick that made her the first Black woman selected as a vice presidential candidate for a major party. She was also the first South Asian nominee on a presidential ticket and just the third woman nominated for vice president.

Harris continued to make history when she was elected vice president, becoming the first woman, first Black American and first South Asian American to serve in the position.

As vice president, Harris was tasked with overseeing tough issues including migration issues at the southern border, voting rights and abortion. She has been a steady presence on the campaign trail, frequently warning voters about the impacts a Republican president would have on abortion access.

Serving as president of the Senate, Harris broke a nearly 200-year-old record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president and presided over the historic confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.

Early years and personal life

Kamala Devi Harris was born Oct. 10, 1964 in Oakland, California, to Shymala Gopalan and Donald Harris. Her mother emigrated to the U.S. from India in 1960 to pursue a doctorate in endocrinology at the University of California,at Berkeley. Harris' father came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1961 to study at Berkeley and worked as a professor at Stanford University. She has a younger sister, Maya.

Harris' mother, who was a breast cancer scientist, died in 2009 of colon cancer.

The vice president graduated from Howard University in 1986 and received her law degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1989.

She and Doug Emhoff married in 2014, and her election to vice president made Emhoff the first second gentleman of the United States. Emhoff, a lawyer, has two children from a prior marriage. He is the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president and has taken a leading role for the Biden administration in speaking out against antisemitism.

Harris' career

Harris began working as a prosecutor in Alameda County, California, after graduating from law school and in 1998, became an assistant district attorney in San Francisco. From there, she led the San Francisco City Attorney's Division on Families and Children.

Harris was elected district attorney of San Francisco in 2003, the first woman to hold the role, and officiated the first same-sex wedding after Proposition 8, California's ballot initiative to ban gay marriage, was struck down by a federal court. She led the district attorney's office until 2010, when she was elected statewide as attorney general. Her election as the 32nd attorney general made her the first woman and first Black person to hold the position.

Harris was elected to federal office in 2016 when California voters selected her to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer in the upper chamber. During her tenure in the Senate, she served on the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.

Just before she was sworn in as vice president in January 2021, Harris resigned from the Senate.

In:
• Joe Biden
• Kamala Harris

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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